Will Michael Moore's Next Movie Go After Labor Unions?

Joe Weisenthal

Sep. 23, 2009, 9:54 AM

Here's something interesting from Michael Moore's new film about capitalism, coutesy of Mediaite:

I gasped in shock all the way through the movie. At one point I had tears in my eyes. At many points I was angry. Some of the stories of corruption Moore told were unbelievable (like the private for-profit juvenile facility that bribed judges to send kids there for extended stays, paid for by the state, or the "dead peasants" corporate insurance policies referred to above. Unbelievable).

Bribing judges to send young kids on extended detentions? That's obviously completely sick and deplorable. However, it's not just private for-profit organizations that do this.

The California Prison Guards union is famous for pushing expansion of the prison-industrial complex, urging draconian laws and extended stays to ensure an endless amount of work for its members. They're also incredibly powerful, and have convinced voters that any politician that does not kowtow to them is soft on crime. It's a pretty slick racket.

So does this mean unions are evil? No, not anymore than Moore's example means businesses are evil.

Here's a truth though: Some people are evil. Some people in government are bad. Some people in business are bad. And some people in the labor movement are bad. AND even not bad people can end up causing harm to others in all of these sectors.

Moore's strategy is to just pick the bad apples and make it look as though they're representative of the whole orchard. But we don't expect he'll be attacking labor this way.